Junction Point creative director Warren Spector addressed the filled-to-capacity room yesterday evening by stating he had intended to make the panel mostly Q&A from the audience, but it wasn’t until eight minutes prior to the scheduled end of the panel that the questions even began (fortunately the panel was the last scheduled in the room for the day, so it went long as a result). Before that announcement, however, comics writer Peter David unofficially set the panel in motion by leading the entire room in a round of the Mickey Mouse Club March (which went surprisingly well I might add).

After showing the official Epic Mickey box art to a chorus of oohs and ahhs, Spector began talking about his own objective for the game. Job 1, he explained, was making Mickey Mouse a hero in the vein of Nintendo legends Mario and Link. Job 1.5, however, was to tell the tale of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, the first true commercial success of Walt Disney’s while he was performing subcontracted work for Universal.

Spector then debuted the following featurette titled ‘The Tale of Oswald,’ featuring arguably some of the best footage (archival and gameplay) released to date:

Spector spent a great deal of time talking about how honored he felt bringing Oswald to the console screen — any screen — after more than 80 years. During the Q&A session, Spector also noted that since Epic Mickey is the first time Oswald ever had a voice of any kind, he bore and took delight in the responsibility of casting the individual who would henceforth be known as the voice of Oswald forever: Frank Welker. Assuming Job 1.5 pans out for Spector, he anticipates that Oswald will be launched into commercial success once more and repeatedly offered his hope for an Oswald plush.

TRON, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Muppets and Epic Mickey were the topics of discussion today during the Disney Publishing Worldwide panel at the 5th annual New York Comic-Con which kicked off today in New York City.

Briefly touching upon TRON, preview pages of the prequel graphic novelTRON: Betrayaland The Art of TRON: Legacy were shared. Since the titles themselves as well as many of the other TRON: Legacy titles (mostly geared towards tweens) were made available to browse through at the Disney Publishing Worldwide booth, there wasn’t much more needing to be mentioned on the topic.

Disney Interactive and Junction Point Studios have just released this featurette focusing on the story development element of the upcoming Nintendo Wii release Epic Mickey. Featuring Junction Point’s Warren Spector, along with many of the developers, the featurette uses concept art and gameplay video to explain the game’s genesis, the storyline and how the player helps to shape the story by the choices they make. There’s even a bit of dialogue featured that takes place during an encounter between Mickey Mouse and his brother Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

MINDstyle has been promoting Epic Mickey in a very vague way as of late and with the other merchandising for the game going on, particularly through Hot Topic, it’d be of little shock if MINDstyle were to produce vinyl adult toy collectibles (ATCs) in support of the game. In fact, it might even be more shocking if they weren’t (or at least Medicom which is producing the VCD of Mickey in the collector’s edition of the game).

Enter Animatronic Donald Duck. I’ll be honest, this may not be news, but this is the first time I’ve personally seen any form of these animatronic Disney characters since the initial concept art was leaked. According to the blog entry from MINDstyle:

Disney Interactive Studios and Junction Point Studios have recently released this gameplay video from Epic Mickey titled Dark Beauty Castle.

In what appears to be a tutorial level, Gremlin Gus (who was incidentally the result of a joint venture between Walt Disney and noted childrens author Roald Dahl) instructs Mickey on the use of using both the paint and thinner, not only to battle enemies (or help other characters), but also to manipulate the environment, sometimes by using both tools in conjunction with each other. Along the way, Mickey also picks up some tickets and tv tokens which allow him to distract enemies temporarily by plopping down a television in front of them. As a reward for saving a gremlin, Mickey also receives a golden trading pin.

Disney Interactive Studios and Junction Point Studios has just released the second portion of the opening cinematic we first shared with you a couple of weeks ago. In the new footage, Mickey Mouse awakes to find himself in the laboratory of the Mad Scientist who is hard at work at experimenting on the world’s most beloved animated character. The Mad Scientist doesn’t realize who he’s up against however when Mickey finds a way to make even the Phantom Blot do his disappearing ink act. The cinematic also shows Oswald the Lucky Rabbit as he encounters Mickey in the flesh for the first time, although the rabbit-mouse relationship exploration is tabled as its apparent that Oswald simply wants out of the situation.

Disney Interactive Studios today announced that the internationally acclaimed upcoming video game Disney Epic Mickey will also be released as a Collectors’ Edition in limited quantities. Available for pre-order beginning today in North America and alongside the standard edition at retail this holiday, the Collectors’ Edition of Disney Epic Mickey will include the full version of the game, a five inch collectible Disney Epic Mickey figurine, Wii™ console skins and remote faceplate, and a bonus DVD with behind-the-scenes video and more. With its innovative style of gameplay using paint and thinner to dynamically change the game world, Disney Epic Mickey is one of the most anticipated titles of 2010.

The video below highlights many of the transition levels in the upcoming Epic Mickey for Nintendo Wii from Disney Interactive Studios and Junction Point Studios. Previously released footage included levels from Walt Disney animated classic shorts such as Steamboat Willie and Plutopia. Here, we get a good look at other levels such as Alpine Climbers and Clock Cleaners. In addition, there is some gameplay from Gremlin Village, the area loosely based on Fantasyland, which we told you about earlier.

G4 has just posted this video clip of Warren Spector providing an update on Epic Mickey from Disney Interactive Studios and Junction Point Studios. In the interview, Spector basically geeks out as he talks about being a life-long animation fan and talks about all of the animators from Disney and Pixar who they have consulted with on the project as well as the involvement from other business units such as Disney Consumer Products.

He also spends a bit of time talking about the music which was scored by Jim Dooley (evidently there are plans to release the soundtrack itself on audio CD in mid-September). Dooley has won an emmy for his scoring of the ABC cult-hit Pushing Daisies.

Disney Interactive Studios along with Junction Point Studios released the first half of the opening cinematic film to their upcoming Nintendo Wii title Epic Mickey earlier today at GamesCom 2010 in Germany.